I visited Keisuke Tada’s solo exhibition “East of Eden.” The venue is MAHO KUBOTA GALLERY.
I arrived early on opening day, but red-dot stickers were already on several works. The artist seems to have a solid base of dedicated fans.
The exhibition is broadly divided into two series: “Zankestu no Kaiga” (Painting of Remnants) and “trace/wood.”
“Zankestu no Kaiga” (Painting of Remnants)
The “Zankestu no Kaiga” series expresses the aged texture of old European classical painting by cracking and peeling the matière of the surface. Even while viewing them with Keisuke Tada’s theme “Doubt the True Nature of What You See” in mind, one can only marvel at how skillfully it is done.
The photograph below is a close-up of part of a work — a superb level of finish. The detail is remarkable.
Most of the red-dot stickers (sold) are on works from this “Zankestu no Kaiga” series, showing that these are the well-supported, popular pieces.
Most of the new “Zankestu no Kaiga” works on display depict stacks or rows of books.
“trace/wood”
The “trace/wood” series looks like painting in which shards of glass and metal are randomly arranged on a support made by laminating wood, with the color of paint connecting them in between.
In reality, however, the works are made purely from painting materials — modeling paste, acrylic paint, and so on. It’s astonishing; another set of works that leaves you feeling completely fooled.
The matière here also gave me an intense, tingling sensation, and I was able to face the work as though time itself had briefly stopped for me to contemplate it.
